Daily Times India

Mumbai, Jan 26 (IANS) Director Prakash Jha is confident that his film “Raajneeti” will fetch the prestigious National Awards for Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif.

“This film will take Ranbir to another level,” said Jha. He has cast the actor as US-educated scion of a political dynasty who has to reluctantly return home to shoulder his family’s duties.

“I hope, no, I’m in fact pretty certain, he’ll win the National Award for his performance,” Jha told IANS.

“Katrina has breathed fire and passion into her role. From the way she metamorphoses from a young vivacious girl to the way she walks to give her public speeches as a politician. Audiences won’t be able to believe the transformation of Katrina. I won’t be surprised if both Ranbir and Katrina win National Awards,” he added.

He can’t stop preening over the fact that his “Raajneeti” features the maximum number of National Award winners in its cast, Arjun Rampal being the latest.

“Everyone is outstanding in the film. And why not? I’ve a line-up of National Award winners in the cast – from Naseeruddin Shah and Nana Patekar to Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgn.

“When I heard Arjun had won the National Award for ‘Rock On!’, I was ecstatic. He is fantastic in my film.”

Jha claims “Raajneeti” is the biggest multi-starrer. “I think it’d be impossible to get so many stars under one roof for any other director.”

Kolkata, Jan 25 (IANS) In a daring attack, Maoist rebels ambushed security forces personnel late Monday in West Bengal’s Bankura district, injuring five policemen and abducting seven, police said.

A large number of ultras separately attacked two security forces’ camps at Chandapathar and Satnala under Barikul police station in the district, 165 km from the capital, at around 11 p.m. leading to a heavy exchange of fire between the policemen and the Maoists for over one and a half hours, police sources said.

The five injured personnel belonged to the Indian Reserve Battalion of the West Bengal police.

Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Kuldip Singh said a large number of heavily armed Maoist ultras attacked the two camps of the security forces.

The police sources said before fleeing, the ultras took away seven policemen. A large police force has surrounded the area.

Lucknow, Jan 25 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh police Moday booked Samajwadi Party legislator, Sultan Beg, under the Gangster Act for allegedly running a truck-lifters’ gang, police said Monday.

Beg is the legislator from Kanwar assembly constituency in Bareilly district, some 200 km from Lucknow.

“An FIR was filed against Beg Jan 17 for running the truck-lifters’ gang. Since then, seven days have passed, but he has not surrendered. Therefore, we have booked him under the Gangster Act,” Bareilly Superintendent of Police (Rural) Vijay Gautam told reporters Monday .

“If he still fails to surrender by Tuesday, the police will start the proceedings required for attaching his property,” he added.

The Gangster Act imposes stringent conditions for bail.

In order to nab Beg, police are carrying out searches in VIP guesthouses and prominent hotels in parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Police Jan 17 seized four trucks from a Bareilly farmhouse, which Beg owns.

Six men were arrested. They alleged that the lawmaker and his son-in-law and brother were running the racket.

“As Beg’s official residence is in Lucknow, we have also sought assistance from the Lucknow police to arrest him and two of his relatives, who are also absconding after an FIR was registered against them in the same case,” said Gautam.

Gandhinagar, Jan 25 (IANS) Ramubhai Patel, the founder editor of Gujarat’s first English daily The Western Times, died in Ahmedabad Monday. He was 83.

Patel had been ailing and was under hospitalisation. His cremation was attended by a large number of political leaders, journalists and well known figures from all walks of public life.

Born Jan 19, 1927, Patel began his journalistic career at the age of 18 and worked 22 years with The Times of India, the Press Trust of India and the Economic Times before launching Western Times in 1967.

The Gujarati edition of the daily was launched in 1986.

Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Assembly Speaker Ashok Bhatt and many others have condoled the death of the veteran journalist.

Patiala (Punjab), Jan 25 (IANS) Four months after Delhi Police arrested Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy, Punjab police have also registered a case against him, an official said Monday.

According to the police, they received information from intelligence agencies that Ghandy had stayed here and was seen inside the premises of Panjab University a few months before his arrest.

Following this, police registered a case under the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Amendment Act, 2008, and under various other sections of the Indian Penal Code against Ghandy and his accomplice Manoj aka Rajesh.

Ghandy was arrested in Delhi in September 2009.

“We have got information that Ghandy had stayed in Patiala before his arrest. Now we are trying to find out the motive behind his stay and unearth any links that he might have established in Punjab,” R.S. Khatra, senior superintendent of police of Patiala, told IANS.

He added, “We are also trying to ascertain the exact duration of his stay in Patiala and about the details of his companion Manoj. Our investigation in connection with this case is still under process.”

Ghandy is a politburo member of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist and worked for the party in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

A few weeks ago, Punjab police chief P.S. Gill admitted in a press conference that Maoist leaders were active in the state and were trying to garner the support of locals.

Patiala town is around 70 km from state capital Chandigarh.

New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Two more people have died of swine flu in the national capital, raising to 92 the number of fatalities from the viral disease, health authorities said Monday.

Of the two deaths, one is that of a 33-year-old woman and the details of the other casualty is yet to be known.

“A 33-year-old woman died at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital,” Anjana Prakash, deputy nodal officer in charge of swine flu control in Delhi, told IANS.

Besides, the city also reported two fresh cases of swine flu. With these two new cases, the cumulative number of infections in the city has gone up to 9,636. The toll so far is 92 in Delhi.

Dharamsala, Jan 25 (IANS) Envoys of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, are headed for China to hold talks – the first time in the last 15 months – between both sides.

The envoys, who left India Monday, will arrive in Beijing Tuesday.

“The Dalai Lama’s special envoys, Lodi G. Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, will arrive in China tomorrow (Tuesday) for discussions with the representatives of the Chinese leadership. This is the ninth round of dialogue. The envoys are visiting China after a gap of 15 months in the process that began in 2002,” the Dalai Lama’s secretary Chhime R. Chhoekyapa said Monday in a statement released at the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile here.

The envoys are accompanied by senior assistants Tenzin P. Atisha, Bhuchung K. Tsering, both members of Tibetan Task Force on negotiations, and Jigmey Passang from the secretariat of the Tibetan Task Force.

The last meeting, called the eighth round of talks, was held between both sides October 2008. That meeting was held just after Beijing successfully conducted the Beijing Olympic Games in August 2008.

Several areas in Tibet saw protests by Tibetans March-April 2008 in the run-up to the Olympic Games. China was projecting its arrival on the global scene with the Games but the unrest inside Tibet, which left scores dead and hundreds injured, almost dented the “all-smooth” image projected by the Chinese authorities.

China put an abrupt end to all communication after the October 2008 talks where the Tibetan side submitted a detailed memorandum to the Chinese, detailing the route map for an autonomous Tibet for Tibetan people.

China had immediately rejected the Tibetan memorandum, saying that it was aimed at dividing China. After that, China did not show any inclination for talks, which authorities in China say are nothing more than informal interaction.

Chhoekyapa said that before leaving for China, a two-day meeting of the Tibetan Task Force was held in Dharamsala last week which was chaired by Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister-in-exile), Samdhong Rinpoche.

The Tibetan delegation finalised their preparations for the discussions in Beijing. On Jan 22, the Kalon Tripa and the both envoys briefed the Dalai Lama about the Tibetan agenda for the talks.

The delegation is expected to return to India early February.

Tibet is not recognised by any country as a separate nation. Over 130,000 Tibetans live in exile outside Tibet, over 100,000 of them as refugees in India.